In the middle of Frans Hals Museum Hof stands an eighteenth-century doll’s house once owned by Sara Ploos van Amstel-Rothé. She was a rich woman, well able to afford this expensive hobby. Because her doll’s house was not a toy, it was like a miniature museum to show off to friends, acquaintances, and visitors. It provides an insight into the life of a wealthy family living by a canal in the eighteenth century. There also house a pet in one of the rooms. Do you discover where?

In 1743, Sara Rothé bought three doll’s houses at auction. She had them remodelled to make two houses, of which this is one. The rooms were meticulously furnished, everything was made as realistically as possible in costly materials and to a scale of 1:10. It contains almost a thousand items!

The dollhouse was purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt (Rembrandt Association). This presentation was realized with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Turing Foundation and aims to draw attention to the power of the Frans Hals Museum’s permanent collection.